Shell charger



Sept. 5, 19, w THOMA 2,357,294

SHELL CHARGER Filed July 19, 1941 Patented Sept. 5, 1944 SHELL CHARGER Willard F. Thoma, Detroit, Mich., assignor to National Stamping Company, Detroit, Mich, a

corporation of Michigan Application July 19, 1941, Serial No. 403,189

1 Claim.

This invention relates to shell chargers, that is, devices of the type adapted to secure a plurality of shells together for loading purposes in rapid fire guns and cannon, the principal object of the invention being the provision of such a charger that is simple 'in construction, efficient in operation, and economical to manufacture.

Objects of the invention include the provision of a shell charger formed from sheet metal; the provision of a charger of the type described that is formed from relatively thin sheet metal and is, therefore, light in weight; the provision of a shell charger that is formed from light sheet metal and so constructed and arranged as to embody a maximum amount of strength for its weight; the provision of a shell charger substantially eliminating the need of machining operations thereon during its manufacture; and the provision of a shell charger of the general type above described formed from relatively thin sheet metal and including certain novel details of construction particularly adapting it to the work to be performed thereby.

Th above being among the objects of the present invention the same consist in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawing, and then claimed, having the above as well as other objects in view.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates suitable embodiments of the present invention and in which like numerals refer. to like parts in the several different views,

Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating four shells operatively connected together by a loading device or charger constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan View of the charger shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view of the charger shown in Fig. 2 and taken as looking on the line 33 of Fig. 2; I

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the charger shown in the preceding views and taken as looking on the line 4-401? Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional View of the charger taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line B6 of Fig. 3;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary, vertical sectional view taken on the line 1! of Fig. 2 to better illussideration are employed for removably securing a plurality of shells together so as to facilitate the loading or charging of the same in a rapid fire gun or cannon. While they may, of course, be adapted for any size of shells, it may be noted that the particular type shown has particularly been adapted for thus removably securing together shells of the 40 mm. type.

These charges comprise a rigid device having partially cylindrical pockets therein adapted to receive the butt end of the shell and include a portion adapted to fit within the usual peripheral groove at the base of such shell so as to locate the shells axially of the device. Additionally, they include a spring pressed plunger movable in a direction axially of the shell and including a part adapted to be removably received in the annular groove in the base of the shell to thereby complete the removable looking of the shell to the device. Inasmuch as such shells taper in diameter from the base toward the tip, the chargersare usually arranged so as to maintain the sides of the shells in approximate parallelism with each other, thus necessitating the charger to be generally curved in plan view.

In the past, it has been conventional practice to form such shell chargers from aluminum castings with only the plungers and their cooperating springs and clips being separately formed and later applied thereto. When formedfrom aluminum castings, it is usually necessary to perform some machining operations on the body of the chargers. At the present time, there is a scarcity of aluminum available for military activities and it is, therefore, desirabl to eliminate the use of such metal wherever possible if this can be donewithout disadvantage. present invention has been developed as the result of the scarcity of aluminum and although it may be formed from sheet aluminum or any other suitable sheet metal, is preferably formed from sheet steel. It has been found that by the practices of the present invention a shell charger is provided that when formed of steel is of substantially no greater weight than those of an equivalent size'formerly formed from aluminum,

The

is materially cheaper to build, is of equal if not greater strength than the conventional aluminum type, and may be accurately constructed without any machining operations whatever except upon the plungers thereof.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing, and particularly to Fig. 1, it will be noted that there are illustrated four shells, each comprising a casing H'carrying a projectile I2, the latter being provided with the usual gas ring I4. As is conventional, the shell cases II are each provided with a peripheral groove l6 adjacent the base thereof and, as best brought out in Fig. 5, the base ends of the cases II are each provided with an'annular groove: l8 in relatively closely spaced relation with respect to the outer margin of the base.

Generally speaking, these chargers are of rigid construction formed to provide a plurality of partially cylindrical seating surfaces arranged. in

transversely spaced relation for reception of the base end of the shell, a partially circular ridge or bead adapted to be receivedin the groove I6 of the corresponding shellcase and an axially movable springpressed plunger having a clip fixed thereto adapted to be removably received in the corresponding groove 18 of the cooperating shell,

to thereby releasably lock the shells inposition on the charger.

In the present case, the body'of the charger is made up of two main parts, namely, the parts indicated generally at 20 and 22. is formed from relatively thin sheet metal, as

for example No. IBgaug steel for a charger for 40 mm. shells, and' is of generally L-shape in cross section, including a flat base 24 and an upstanding integral wall portion 26 arranged gen erally in perpendicular relationship with respect to the base 24. The upper edge of the side wall portion 26 is formed or scalloped to provide four partially cylindrical or arcuate surfaces or seats 28 of a diameter to substantially closely fit that.

. The member 22 is also generally of L-section,

and includes a flat but narrower base 34 and an upstanding wall 36 integral therewith and arranged in perpendicular relationship with respect to the plane of the base 34.

to provide four partially circular scallops or arcuate portions 38 of a size such as to substantially fit the bottom of the groove I6 in the shell head and each forming a seat for a shell case. at the bottom of the groove IB thereofV The amount which the marginsof the side walls 36 are prefer-- ably forwardly turned or flanged is such as to provide a shoulder of slightly less width than the Width of the groove 16 of the shell cases H for reception thereinand to aid inthe-support of the shellsthereon. The forward flanging of the upper margin of the wall 36 preferably occurs over the. full length of the wall 36 to enhance the strength thereof.

The two members 20 and 22 ar arranged with The part 20,

Like the member 20., its upper edge is scalloped and forwardly flanged the member 22 resting upon the member 26 and with the rear edges of the bases 24 and 34 in aligned relation to each other and with the arcuate seat portion 28 concentric with the arcuate seat portions 38 and the bases 24 and 34 are secured together, as. by spot welding or the like, in such position. As will be apparent from an inspection of Figs. 2, 5, and 6, the seats 28 and 38 are thus materially spaced from one another and are adapted to engage a shell case II, as illustrated in Fig. 5.

In order to strengthen the connection between the members 20 and 22, between each adjacent pair of cooperating seats 28 and 38 a post 40, best shown in Fig. 6, is extended and securely staked to each thereof. The posts 48 are of greater vertical dimension than transverse dimension and cooperate withthe vertical walls 26 and 36, respectively, to prevent springing of one with respect to the other. Additionally, the side walls 26 and 36 at opposite ends thereof are respectively provided with oppositely disposed'fianges or tongues 42 and 44, respectively, arranged inoverlapping relation and suitably secured together as by spot welding or the like. Because of the fact that th flanged upper margin of thewall 36 of the member 22 is relatively narrow, it is preferable, in orderto further stiffen suchwall, to form depressions such as 45' of material area therein at spaced points as indicated.

As mentioned in connection with the description of Fig. 1, the-charger in planview is somewhat arcuate in shape, but is not on a true are inasmuch'as particularlythe shoulders on seats tain the arcuate effect, the members 20- and 22 are bent substantially on the median lines between the seats 28 and 38,respectively, as clearly brought out in Fig. 2. The member 20, having the relatively wide'bas 24, is preferably formed of this shape in the stamping operatiombut the member 22 having the relatively narrow base. 34,

may have such base notched out .as at 46 at the various points of bend under which conditions it may be formed straight and then bent in' the plane of the base 34 to bring it to its required shape before securing it to the member 20.

It will also be noted that the bas 34 of the member 22 is provided with an upwardly offset portion 48 having a flat upper surface in vertical alignment with the axis of eachv of the shell receiving seats of the charger. These upwardly offset portions 48 form abutments for cooperation with the clip which will now be described.

In vertical alignment with each shell case ll received by the charger, the walls 26 and 36 slidably receive between them a plunger 50. Each plunger 50 has an enlarged head 52 and areduced end portion 54. For the purpose of receiving the plunger 53, the walls 26 and 36 are provided with openings for receiving the head 52 andspect to the upper surface of the cooperating abutment 48, so as to prevent relative rotation of the catch member 60 about the aXis of the corresponding plunger 59 without interfering with the movement thereof axially of the corresponding plunger 59. The upper end of the catch member 60 is provided with a forwardly extending end or projection 64 positioned to engage the annular groove I8 in the base of the corresponding shell case II when the seat 38 is engaged within the groove [6 of the shell case. The plungers 59 are constantly urged in a forwardly direction by means of a coil spring 66 encircling each plunger 59 and maintained under axial compression between the head 52 of the plunger and the wall 36 of the member 22, the springs 66 thus constantly urging the projection 64 into operative relationship with respect to the groove l8 and the corresponding shell case it). Thus, from an inspection of Fig. 5, it will be appreciated that engagement of the seat 38 in the groove I6 of the various shell cases ll holds the shell cases H against axial movement with respect to the charger and the inter-engagement of the projection 6 3 of the member 60 with the grooves IS in the bases of the shell cases ll releasably maintains these shells in position in the charger. Obviously, by simply moving the plungers 5D axially against the force of the corresponding spring 66, the projections 54 are withdrawn from engagement with the grooves [8 of the corresponding shell cases, which thereby releases the shell cases for removal from the charger.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that the chargers thus provided may be formed from any suitable sheet metal, but from the standpoint of strength and economy of production are preferably formed from steel and suitably treated against corrosion. Being of relatively thin sheet metal, they are relatively light in weight and economical to produce, and the flanges and reinforcements provide the structure with ample strength in spite of the light metal employed in its production. t

The metal from which the member 22 is formed is, of course, of considerably less thickness than the width of the groove 16 in the shell cases l0. At the same time, the upper edge of the wall 36 of the member 22 must be of sufiicient dimension in the direction of the axis of the shell cases to relatively closely but be slidably received in the groove l5. When it is not desired to flange the upper edge of the wall 36 to fit the groove l6, as

previously described, then resort may be had to the construction illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, whereby the required thickness of the upper edge of the wall 36 is obtained without the necessity of flanging.

Referring now to Figs. 8 and 9, it will be noted that the construction there shown is identical to that first described with the exception that the wall equivalent to the wall 36, and here indicated at 36', instead of being forwardly flanged is indented at intervals, as at 10, so that, as viewed in Fig. 8, the effective thickness of the upper edge of the wall 36' is equivalent to the thickness of the flanged upper edge in the construction first described, the rippled upper edge thus provided being adapted to be received in the groove l6 of the shell cases ill in the same manner as the flanged upper edges of the wall 36 are received and as indicated in Fig. 5. The remaining parts of the structure shown in Figs. 8 and 9 being identical to those previousl described are indicated by the same numerals and no further description of the same is required.

It is not essential in the broader aspects of the invention that the flanges along the upper margins of the walls 26 and 36 of the constructions above described be continuous from one end of the charger to the other. Instead, and if desired, these flanges may extend over the length of the arcuate seat portions 28 and 38 only, as indicated in Fig. 10. This construction is perhaps somewhat easier to form in a stamping or drawing operation than the construction first described, but obviously lacks the full strength of the construction first described. Ordinarily, however, it will be found amply strong for the purposes required.

Formal changes may be made in the specific embodiments of the invention described without departing from the spirit or substance of the broad invention, the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A shell clip comprising a strip of metal having an arcuate recess in one edge for receiving-a shell, the metal along the recess being pressed out laterally and alternately towards opposite sides of the strip so as to provide in effect, a wider edge face for engagement with the shell.

WILLARD F. THOMA. 

